Published 2:33 am, Tuesday, September 1, 2009

The fire began sometime before 3:17 p.m., when the call first came in, said Capt. Bill Avalos of Stamford Fire &amp; Rescue. By 3:45 p.m., firefighters had doused the flames coming through the second-and third-floor windows of 31 Dolsen Place, leaving the siding around the windows blackened and scorched.

Avalos said fire crews would be working through the evening to check on hidden fires in the building's walls. Fire marshals said the cause of the blaze is under investigation.

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The fire completely destroyed 31 Dolsen Place, which was split into two apartments and home to eight residents, including three children, Red Cross officials said. The other side, 29 Dolsen Place, was damaged by smoke and water, but residents were able to go back inside to get belongings, Angela Malizia, spokeswoman for the Darien-Stamford chapter of the American Red Cross said.

The Red Cross is helping residents find lodging, she said.

The fire started in the second floor bedroom of 31 Dolsen Place and spread to the third floor, Avalos said. At 3:40 p.m., firefighters used a rescue ladder to crawl onto the roof, where they cut holes with a buzz-saw to vent the fire.

Dolsen Place is off Bedford Street and intersects with North Street. Residents Monday afternoon watched from nearby homes and some took pictures and recorded video.

Mario Aguilar lives with three other men in the second and third floors of 31 Dolsen Place. He looked on from across the street as firefighters went in and out of the duplex. He said he and his roommates were at work when the fire began.

After containing the flames, firefighters threw charred appliances and electronics from the second floor windows and they smashed apart on the asphalt below.

Nine-year-old Giancarlo Hernandez, who lives in 29 Dolsen Place with his mother and father, the building's owner, said he heard sirens when the first emergency crews arrived. Then, he looked out his bedroom window and saw smoke.

"I was going crazy," he said. "I didn't know what to do. I ran downstairs and told my mom."

Sadie Loebelson, 25, a neighbor, watched the fire with other residents from a fenced-off area on the side of her home. She said he smelled something like a camp fire, then looked outside to see the second floor of 31 Dolsen Street in flames.

"A lot of smoke was coming out," she said. "Then you saw the fire go up the side and it popped out the third floor. It really looked like it devastated the third floor."

She said she could hear loud popping sounds from inside the home as well as firefighters' buzzsaws.

Staff Writer Jeff Morganteen can be reached at jeff.morganteen@scni.com or 964-2215.